Shamrock Rose debuts a stakes winner in Ontario Debutante

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – First-time starter Shamrock Rose, the longer-priced of two Mark Casse trainees, closed strongly under Eurico Da Silva to win the $104,000 Ontario Debutante Stakes on Saturday at Woodbine.

Shamrock Rose ($13.20) missed the break while hitting the side of the gate, and then made her way up into third, as the favored Casse runner, Sly Roxy, set moderate fractions in the six-furlong sprint. Da Silva angled Shamrock Rose off the rail at the quarter pole, and she mowed down the leaders nearing the sixteenth pole en route to a 1 1/4-length score, in a time of 1:10.97.

Glamanation finished second after a wide trip, while edging out the New York invader Honey Graeme. Sly Roxy faded to fourth, and Presage trailed the five-horse field of 2-year-old fillies.

“She broke a little slow, but it was a good thing for her,” Da Silva said. “We sat off the speed, and then I had the opportunity to take her outside. I knew I had a lot of horse underneath me. When I asked her, she responded very well.”

Shamrock Rose, a Pennsylvania-bred by First Dude, banked $60,000 for Conrad Farms.